Treating cloth, &amp;c.



No. 772,598. vvlelvllql'lll) 0GT.18,1904

Y J; Wi' YATES.v j TREATING GL0T'H,"& J.

APPLICATION FILED KAB. 24, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

. mzef f A y y y E11/en [55 intensa october 18,1904;

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WILIAM YATES, OVE WHALEY BRIDGE, ENGLAND.

TREATING CLOTH, a0.

SPEIFICATIN forming part of Letters Patent No.'772,598, dated October 18, 190.4. Application filed March 24, 1903. Serial Ne. 149,241. (No specimens.)

T all whom, it may con/067%:

' a specification.

. Be it known that I, JOHN VVILIAM YATES, a subject of the AKing -of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Whaley Bridge, in the county of Chester, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dividing, Perforating, and Similarly Treating Cloth and other Fabrics, of which the.following is This invention relates to ing, perforating, severing, or the like treatment of cloth and other Afabrics in asimple, cheap, and eflicient manner without the use of knives, scissors, or other like cutters or implements.

Individing or cutting a cloth by the mechanical means or devices at'present in use-as, for

example, in the production of handkerchiefs from a printed piece-much time is lost and special devices or machinery have to beem-l sired configuration,which may be complete of garments or the like.

In carrying these improvements into effect in themselves or may be the component parts the fabric which is to be divided or severed has printed, impressed, or otherwise placed` upon it a line or lines of acid or other liquid g or substanceadapted to destroy, weaken, or

corrode that part of the fabric upon which it or they is or areprinted or placed. Such a line or such lines, hereinafter called an acid line 0r'acid lines, follows or follow the `line or lines' along which the cloth is to be divided. The fabric so treated is afterward easily separated, divided, or may be pulled apart along the acid line or lines when the chemical action has taken place, and this chemical action may be hastened by passing the treated fabric over a heated roller or by the division, shap- I processes.

otherwise subjecting it to heat. If desired,

thedivision may be effected by subjecting the fabric or the acid-treated portion or portions of such fabric to a vigorous brushing while it or they are passing overv the heated or other drum. This brushing serves to remove the burned, corroded, or destroyed parts of the fabric and to clean and smooth the severed edges! t l In case it is desired to remove certain small parts of the fabric to produce a reticulated,

netted-or similar effect such parts may have their outline printed in acid, or the whole of the partto'be removed may be solidly printed in acid or the like. The acid line or lines may be impressed or printed upon the fabric by means of a block, a roller, a stencil', a plate, or other equivalentprinting or impressing device or by a plurality or combination of such devices in the same manner as colored or other lines are printed or impressed in the ordinary printing process or For the division of the fabric into lengths i or sections the dividing-lines thus impressed Aor imprinted may be continuous or broken and may run along' the length of the fabric or across it, or both along andacross it, or in any desired direction or directions, according to the shape and dimensionsrequired in the severed section of fabric.

In the treatment or`division of a long length of cloth or fabric while passing through a machine lines which run across the fabric need not extend across completely from edge to edge, small untreated' portions being left, if

desired, to hold the different sections together until the final separation is desired. V

The accompanying drawing diagrammatically illustrates one method and apparatus by which an acid line or acid lines may be printed or impressed and repeated upon a long length f I of fabric.

a is the fabric, which is takenfrom the drum 'Z2 'and is passed around `the cylinder c. It is here subjected to the action of the acidvprinting roller d, which is engraved orotherwise formed, so as to print upon the fabricl y an acid line or lines following the outline of the article to be severed, and this acidv line is IOO continually imprinted or repeated during the passage of the fabric under or in contact with the acid-printing roller. The fabric may afterward be divided along the acid line or lines, so that any number of pieces or articles of identical shape and size are thus easily and economically produced.

To assist the action of the acid in destroying, weakening, or corroding that part of the fabric upon which it is printed or impressed, the fabric may be passed over a heated drum e or be otherwise heated. Upon the drum or at any other convenient place the fabric may be vigorously brushed, as by the rotary brush f.

It will be understood that the printing roller or device d may be prepared or formed to print straight lines or curved or sinuous lines of any desired complexity, so that articles having any desired edge or shape of edge may be produced.

The acid-printing roller or other device may. if desired, be employed in conjunction with a roller or with rollers or with a like device or devices which is or are employed in printing color patterns upon the fabric to 'be ultimatelydivided, and the acid-printing roller may form one of a series of such rollers and be in register therewith and be employed in exactly the same manner with the exception that the acid-printing roller is imprinting its acid or corrosive substance instead of color. By this arrangement articles such as handkerchiefs may be printed and divided one from another in practically one operation.

If a block or equivalent device is employed instead of a .roller for printing the acid line or lines, such block or the like may also form one of a series of color-printing blocks.

The rollers, blocks, or the like employed are supplied with the acid or other corrosive or similar liquid or substance in the manner usual with ordinary printing devices.

To preven'tfraying along the edges, severed as"n abovfwdescribed,4 and" to Ydispense wwith" hemming, a further additional block, roller, orl the like may be used which will print Va line or lines of india-rubber solution or 'ofi' any other suitable impregnating, agglutinating, cementing, or protective material'of any'A desired width immediately alongside and on one or both sides of or around the acid or other line or lines or that part o f the fabric upon which such acid line or lines are or have to be imprinted; or the cementing material may be printed in a line broader than the acid line upon the same part of the fabric, either after or before the acid is applied. 1n the latter case the acid eorrodes or acts upon both the cementitious material and the fabric.

The cementing material may be printed or impressed upon the same face of the fabric as that to which the acid isapplied or upon the other face, or upon both faces; or the fabric for some articles and purposes may be coated and spread or spread with the cement or the like. By this arrangement cloth and the like articles cut out, severed, or divided by the method described have their severed edges thus compacted or bound, so that they will not fray.

A roller for imprinting the cementing` substance may be combined with the acid-printing roller, as at (7, and be properly registered therewith. Similarly it may form one of a series with the acid-printing roller and with color-printing rollers or with the color-printing roller or rollers alone, or itmay be used by itself and separately.

As examples of the corrosive or destroying` substance or liquid employed, we may use a weak solution of hydrochloric acid for dividing-fabrics made from cotton and a weak solution of agua rer/a or a solution of caustic soda for fabrics or articles made from wool. For other fabrics suitable substances would be employed.

The rollers, blocks, or the like would of course be formed from a suitable metal or substance able to withstand the action of the acid or the like.

Although the treatment of textile fabrics has hitherto been herein described, leather, paper, or the like may be similarly treated.

In order to prevent any further action of a possible residue of acid or the like or equivalent upon the edge or edges of the fabric after separation has been effected, these parts of the fabric may be treated with alkali o1' acid or other suitable substance to neutralize the acid or alkali or the like which may rcmain in the edge or edges of the fabric.

Having now 'described my invention, what I' claim is- The method of dividing, perforating and similarly treating cloth and other fabrics which consists in applying an acid or equivalent corrosive substance to a printing-snrface containing an engraved or otherwiseproduced pattern, then impressing said printing-surface upon the cloth and finally separating the fabric along the lines of the impressed pattern.

'ln testimony whereof 1 have signed my name to this specification in the presence oftwo subsicribing witnesses.

JOHN VILIAM YATES.

vWitnesses: p

TILLIAM GEO. HnYs, WM. WARREN.

IIO 

